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The Ashen Frost
Snow on the Sands These sands of were once considered forbidden lands to the . It was both a haven for as well as their prison. So long as they kept themselves away from the , the Shinigami had no reason to intervene with their affairs. Likewise, the Hollows would have their peace; of course, as far as peace goes for Hollows and . But that all changed after , and soon after that, the assault by the . Chaos swept through their sands and now in the aftermath of those conflicts, the Hollows were engaged in a fierce civil war for dominance of these lands; not just with their own kind, but also with the who took up residence here. But there was another boon to these lands; the rich that permeated its atmosphere. For warriors of the spiritual realm, this was an ideal realm for refining their combat abilities. And so was the intention of a particular Captain of the . "Reign over the frosted heavens..." The sound of a katana being swung could then be heard following those words. "Hyōrinmaru!" From the blade held by a white-haired Shinigami, clad in a white haori, a sudden eruption of shimmering ice shot outwards toward the moonlit skies above. The living ice started to take form, resembling an eastern dragon as it continued its ascent. Going and going, it eventually expanded and flared out in all directions, coating the entirety of the clouds with frost until the sky appeared as a solid roof. Yet, this construct was fleeting, as it soon shattered and came pouring down onto the sands below with a gentle descent like that of an early winter's snowfall. Tōshirō Hitsugaya gazed upwards with a mixed look of contentedness yet with subtle signs of dissatisfaction; not bad, yet not good enough. He was aiming to refine the flash-freezing he demonstrated back during the end stages of the Quincy war. It was a feat he could only perform while in its matured form, but he couldn't just rely on that forced growth in every battle. He had to cultivate his powers so that he could wield them freely whenever the next battle arrived. And so he pushed forward, continuing in his training pursuits. ---- Cang Du twirled a pendant-shaped medallion between his fingers as he stared out at the flat, white expanse of Hueco Mundo. He was crouching on one of the battlements of the abandoned castle that served as the headquarters for the Wandenreich remnants, his eyes narrowed in thought. Cang didn’t often reminisce. He found that dwelling on his memories was similar to teetering on the edge of a dark precipice, with an endless well of past sorrows and mistakes looming beneath him. If he weren’t careful, he might slip over the edge and never find a means to progress. But that day was different. Particularly, he thought back to the battle he had fought against captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya of the 10th division. Cang Du had intervened in the conflict only after Bazz-B had pummeled the white-haired Shinigami into the ground. “Stop right there Bazz-B,” he had said. “We promised to leave each captain to the one who stole their bankai... I’ll finish him off.” What had prompted him to step in where before Bazz-B would had defeated their adversary without a struggle? Was it arrogance? Or perhaps jealously. Bazz-B’s expression had been one of doubt, but he relented nonetheless. Cang felt strangely angry at that. No, he knew what it had been—he had wanted to prove himself to the red-haired Sternritter. To demonstrate his strength. Perhaps then... “Stealing my prey Cang Du?” Bazz-B asked, his tone cool. “His majesty is gonna punish you.” No, Cang Du thought. Ironically he was the one protecting Bazz from his majesty’s wrath. Why couldn’t he see that? Bazz had been so infuriating to him in those days. And yet... Cang Du’s grip tightened on the medallion. “This is probably your fist time seeing your bankai from this angle,” he had told the Shinigami captain. “It it a beautiful bankai.” And it was. Crystal wings of ice, a heavenly dragon. Frigid, unyielding, clear. It was appropriate that Cang should be the one to wield it. And yet he hated it. It was a direct contradiction of his morality. Those who spent their lives together should remain together in death. That was his belief. That was why he was the only one who could kill captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya. It was only fitting, it was only fate, that a Shinigami should end at the hands of his own bankai. Then it had happened. A black drop of blood, a sudden influx of Hollow reiryoku. Intense pain concentrated below his shoulder blades as he was stripped of his wings. The iron scent of blood. His blood. He had tried to understand it then. Reason with it and deduce based on what circumstances could have caused his body to reject the bankai. But ultimately he knew. He had contradicted his belief, his reason. He had tried to take that which had never been his, to reach for the will of heaven while simultaneously defying it. “Maybe Hyōrinmaru just wants to return,” the Shinigami had told him. Cang Du’s mouth was pressed firm to contain his disgust. For an heir of the ‘balancers’ he had only barely touched the surface of such a fundamental truth. He responded with a snarl of reishi, curving lines of ice from his claws towards the Shinigami. “Don’t underestimate us,” Cang warned him, even as his own mind was reeling with the implications. “Don’t you know a bankai can’t attack itself?” The captain responded by taunting him. “You did it before too,” Cang said. “Stop referring to your bankai as if it had a soul.” He didn’t believe in pantheism. A bankai was only a piece of a Shinigami’s soul, he had been told. A “manifestation” of the Shinigami’s true self. Thus, to forcibly separate an aspect of a person’s soul and allow it to live beyond its originator was akin to blasphemy. All things must end, all must turn to ash in their proper time. “I thought your face was in pain,” the captain continued to condescend. “But I see, he said the bankai would be Hollowfied for a second.” Cang’s heart pounded in fear at the sight of the captain’s mask. To be consumed before one could enter the eternally nameless was a fate worse than death itself. Life was expressed not as a concept but as experience, and Hollows were an aberration of the proper way of existence. “''Shé Jìn Zhǎo''!” Bright blue light flashed in front of him, too late. Cang could still remember the sensation of ice encased around his fingers. His Blut had saved him, and he later broke free with his Vollständig, but the cold had penetrated to the very marrow of his bones. He wondered if part of his soul had been frozen over then as well. He thought that, after being cut down before his majesty, he would have experienced some kind of hatred towards the Shinigami. But he had accepted it just as he had accepted any other tragedy in his life. Stone-faced, emotionless. Truly, to be alive was the greater mystery to him, and perhaps that was his greatest flaw. But now he understood. Cang Du stood up, turning his attention to the pinprick of intimately familiar reiatsu he had sensed in the distance. Even from there he could see a canopy of storm clouds: flashes of white against the eternally dark sky. If the captain had come all this way to test his powers against the sands of Hueco Mundo it could only mean one thing... Fate had ordered a rematch. There was no wind, but Cang felt cold. He pulled the hood of his reiatsu-concealing cloak over his face, tucking the bankai-stealing medallion into his pocket. Hoping the other Quincy wouldn’t notice his absence, and apologizing to Bazz-B, Cang slipped into a current of reishi and vanished from the castle. ---- In the distance that stretched before Hitsugaya, a gust of wind carried a plume of sand up from the horizon. A moment later, a figure emerged, treading along the sand beneath the veil of falling snow. Flecks of ice swirled around him like ashes, but he emitted no detectable reiatsu. He slipped out of sight once more before finally appearing before Hitsugaya, his white cloak fluttering from the movement. The only clue to his identity was the distinctive vertical scar that cut across the corner of his mouth. At last, he spoke. “It is a truly beautiful bankai,” he said. Hitsugaya had froze. It was quite the oxymoron of sorts, the thought of a master of ice feeling frozen in place. And yet, that was what happened. Like hearing the voice of a ghost long since thought faded, the Captain turned ever so slightly with his eyes widened in a display of shock and surprise. "You...?! You're that... Quincy from back then. The one who..." Fragmented memories started to flow into Hitsugaya, images of a particular Quincy with a medallion etched with their symbol, spiritual power pouring from Hitsugaya's own body and entering said medallion, and the emptiness of calling out for Hyōrinmaru only for no response to be given. "The one who stole Hyōrinmaru..." Of course, even in the midst of his flabbergasted expression, the young Captain soon managed to snap back into the picture of composure. It was as if the final piece of that series of memory fragments finally hit him; when Hyōrinmaru returned, and when Hitsugaya believed himself to have vanquished the Quincy thief responsible during the onset of the war's second battle. The remembrance of having conquered this foe once before soothed his tension, restoring the color to his pale face as his eyes narrowed, centering on Cang Du's form. "Or should I say, tried to steal. I remember killing you. But you Quincy were a persistent lot..." Hitsugaya proclaimed, more memories filling his thoughts, as he remembered some of the Quincy such as Gerard Valkyrie. These 'servants of god' that followed Yhwach were all individuals that were on the outskirts of common sense. It was hard to believe any of them could be called human. No matter how much he froze that beast, he only came back stronger than ever before. In fact, all of the Quincy during that war were troublesome, for one reason or another. When these thoughts arose, Hitsugaya's surprise had faded. "...so why should I be surprised that you managed to survive back then. I heard the survivors of the Wandenreich army took up residence in Hueco Mundo, but I never imagined you would be one of them. Is there something I can help you with?" The young Captain's final statement, his question rather, was laced with subtle hints of sarcasm. Supposedly, the Quincy and Shinigami were making strides to maintain a ceasefire between one another, in order to enter into a new era of peace between the two sides. But all the same, from what Hitsugaya knew of this man from the brief encounters he had, this Cang Du did not seem the type to be here with the intention of making friends. The Captain kept his hand tightly around the hilt, his Bankai beginning to recede as he intended to reserve his strength while also to provide Cang Du with a blatant opening should he decide to attack. But Hitsugaya wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, simply observing him and awaiting his response while letting Hyōrinmaru return to its Shikai state. But the Quincy remained motionless, apparently refusing to react as Hitsugaya’s bankai-imbued clouds withdrew into his Zanpakutou. Streams of ice glittered in the frigid wind as they spiraled around them... and then Cang Du smiled. It was a subtle, unnerving smirk that distorted his scar, breaking his typical stoic expression. Then, he extended his hand. Some of the wind began to curl around Cang’s forearm. With an abrupt surge, one of the streams of ice switched directions, circling around him before flowing directly into his open palm. The vacuum of pressure created a sudden roar, and sand was thrown up to meld with the particles of ice flying through the air. While the diversion was merely an extension of his Reishi-absorbing capabilities as a Quincy, Cang had perfected his particular technique, Xīshōu Shǒu, over the years he had spent in Hueco Mundo. It was a desert, after all, and to survive one had to learn to extract every last drop of a precious resource such as spiritual energy. But clearly he had gone beyond that, absorbing the energy from a captain’s bankai with such indifference. At last the vortex of swirling snow ended. Cang’s grin faded quickly, but he continued to gloat. “You reverted to your Shikai form so soon. Are you afraid I’ll take your bankai again?” He asked it wryly, although his level voice made it seem more like a threat. But then he became truly serious. “I escaped your ice coffin with Vollständig, although I had resolved to accept only victory or death that day. Death before surrender was my answer. If one lacks resolve, the willingness to die along with the enemy, the inevitable result is slavery.” Cang’s eyes narrowed to slits. “But fate had other plans, it would seem.” Cang Du removed his hood to reveal his face, and incorporated the spiritual energy he had absorbed into a point of reiatsu that he concentrated above the Shinigami’s heart. He called it shā qí, a killing impulse, and its purpose was to exert a murderous intent to the captain of the 10th in order to mentally imbalance him. “I wasn’t expecting to find you here, Tōshirō Hitsugaya,” he said. “Nevertheless, I’ll consider this a chance to settle our score.” Cang Du readjusted his stance... and then he was gone. The reiatsu-concealing cloak meant it would have been nearly impossible for Tōshirō to sense his location as he maneuvered to attack him from within Hirenkyaku. However, that also meant that Cang’s speed and ability to exert spiritual pressure were compromised. But that didn’t really seem to matter as he emerged in the air above Hitsugaya, and, spinning to bring his heel over his head, delivered a swift, powerful drop kick. A swathe of gray-blue spiritual energy followed the path of his kick in a swift arc... and an instant later the attack contacted the surface of the ground, forming a crater where Hitsugaya stood. The sand erupted in a white column, and Cang stopped to regain the high ground, emerging above the dust cloud to find a visual on his opponent. It was like being stabbed in the heart; a sudden and fierce shock permeated Hitsugaya's chest before receding, the inexplicable pain appearing only for a moment and then fading just as quickly as it appeared, but that was enough. The young Captain's eyes widened for a moment, trying to figure out what just happened, but it did not take him long. Though he was young, he had engaged in life-or-death doubts over and over; this pain was not unfamiliar, he recognized it as the sting of one's desire to kill. That murderous instinct was something he experienced before, but none more so than when he faced the Tres Espada, Tier Harribel. Compared to that Arrancar's predator-like nature, something like this was easily shrugged off. Yet even so, what happened next was not something Hitsugaya could easily respond to. Somehow, for one reason or another, the young Captain's reikaku was unable to track his Quincy foe, and his response to the downward kick was something instinctive that only kicked in as a result of his sword training. When he first lost his Bankai, he returned to the basics; relearning swordsmanship from the ground up. Of course, he only had so little time before the second invasion of the Wandenreich with which to prepare, and so he could only really incorporate the basics of kendō into his fighting style. Even so, the fundamentals alone have their worth. Kote-uchi was Hitsugaya's response. Normally, this was a sword slash aimed at the enemy's wrist, and could be used to disarmed the opponent in the process. But he improvised it in this case, if only on sheer impulse rather than premeditated innovation. Rather than the wrist, Hitsugaya aimed for the ankle of the kick, swinging with the intention of blocking the kick. However, if that was impossible, a flow of ice followed the arc of Hyōrinmaru's swing, which in the event of the Quincy's retreat, would rise to consume him in the torrent of frost. If it were not to freeze Cang Du, it would, at the very least, render his efforts to smash apart the ground below the warriors pointless, for the entire area was now under siege by the ice of Hyōrinmaru. It appeared as though it failed to catch the Quincy, as Cang Du managed to retreat back to higher ground, but Hitsugaya was in pursuit. Flash-stepping toward the very top of the ice glacier created from his sword swing, he stepped off of it and dashed toward his Quincy opponent. Wordlessly, he once more swung his Zanpakutō, and out rushed flowing water from the very tip, culminating outwards into a river that solidified into ice and took the shape of an eastern dragon. Originally, the Captain could only create one with every strike, but with the experienced gained from further refining his control over Hyōrinmaru, he could manage much more now. Rather than a single dragon, the flowing river of ice split off and actually took on the form of three dragons at once. They flew toward Cang Du at incredible speeds, one dragon flanking him from either side while the third soared higher and came crashing down aiming for his head. Regardless of the Quincy's response, Hitsugaya was ready for him. Forming a gesture with his free hand, a golden light formed at the tips of his joining index and middle fingers, before manifesting into the form of chains. "Bakudō 63: Sajō Sabaku." Yet, as the chains materialized and coiled outwards, they remained stationary for the time being. Hitsugaya awaited to see how Cang Du would respond to his initial attack before attempting to capture him with this spell. The very moment the Quincy made any attempt to dodge or block the incoming assault, the Captain would immediately fire his Bakudō to ensnare Cang Du. Cang Du had felt when his kick had slipped past his intended target, deflected by Hitsugaya’s sword slash. But the blade had failed to cut him, as his reiatsu was bound tightly around him so that his limbs functioned as weapons in and of themselves, even without the use of Blut Vene. Nevertheless, he felt a tremor in the atmosphere as Hitsugaya began to expend the emblematic ice of his shikai. He steeled himself for the onslaught, drawing out his spirit weapon in the form of claws forged of soul silver on each hand. As such, Cang was completely nonplussed as the white-haired captain soared up from the glacier to meet him. The three headed dragon rushed towards him, as if it were going to consume him. In response, Cang placed one hand on top of the other. “Shé Jìn Zhǎo,” he uttered. Immediately, two streams of energy in the form of a snake roared from behind him, directed by his spirit weapons. The jaws split open, and continued to split until they had turned back in on themselves in two directions—one to the left and the other to the right. The head of the snake met the jaws of the dragons. There was a snap as the concentrated surge of the Shé Jìn Zhǎo pushed against Hyōrinmaru’s ice, pulverizing it even as it was swallowed in the process. But Cang himself had not remained still. The instant he had released his spirit weapon, he had propelled himself up to meet the final prong of the attack. As the dragon rushed down towards him, he slid his hand along the side of the ice. For some reason, he was completely unscathed despite the freezing properties of Hitsugaya’s Zanpakutō. It seemed as though the ice were repelled under his open palm, but in reality he were sublimating part of the structure, drawing it in again as energy to fuel his own attack. Cang Du came to a sudden halt, the momentum of the Hirenkyaku thrown behind him as he stood sideways in midair, his feet pressed against the side of the dragon. Before the ice could creep around his feet, he pushed off. He shot towards Hitsugaya like a bullet from a gun. However, due to his speed, Cang Du didn’t see the curled chains of Kidō until the last second. Several things happened at once. His eyes widened slightly, and whereas before his feet had been behind him, he swung them around and kicked out in front. Emitting a sharp burst of spiritual pressure, he attempted to change directions before the Bakudō could ensnare him. At the same time, Cang jabbed forwards with his claws, and six lines of vibrating reishi flanked the Shinigami, three on each side. Resembling the Desgarrón technique of a somewhat infamous Espada, Cang intended for the Hǔ Tiáowén Zhǎo to cut through the yellow band of Kidō and, if he were lucky, strike the captain as well. But as it were Cang held his breath. Having been lured into Hitsugaya’s trap, he now tried to put as much distance between them as fast as he could. Hitsugaya had not expected such a straightforward response to his attack, with the ice dragons neutralized with ease as the Bakudō that he fired off was being slashed apart. At the moment he recognized Cang Du going on the assault, he did not depend on the effectiveness of his Kidō spell. Rather, once he fired it off, whether it did the job or not, he readied his blade preparing to respond himself. No matter how powerful Cang Du's attack, it would not be able to shred through a mid-class Bakudō without needing at least some modicum of effort to do so. While awaiting the Quincy's attack, he kept himself afloat in the air of Hueco Mundo by fastening reishi to his feet. It was as if he were waiting for something, or perhaps preparing something; the way he simply stood there without moving. "I don't know what will happen if I try this in Shikai... but there's no time like the present." As the Quincy came lunging for him, the young Captain waited there. He kept the blade ready, grasping it with both hands, but remained stationary. Closer, closer... Once Cang Du reached a close proximity, mere inches away from Hitsugaya, the Captain loosened the reishi from his feet in that instant and let himself fall from the skies. It was only about a couple meters or so, but once he was sure he had managed to dodge the attack by even a hair's breadth, he immediately thrust his Zanpakutō upwards while fixing his airborne position with reishi once more. " !" A considerable burst of ice flowed forth from the tip of his sword, expanding outwards and rushing up into the skies with the intention of devouring Cang Du in his entirety. The main difference between the Shikai and Bankai of Hyōrinmaru is in the amount of ice it creates. Besides that, there is very little difference in its power. As such, techniques in Bankai were usable even in Shikai, but because the amount of ice is far more reduced, it meant Hitsugaya needed to properly time when to use these techniques. That is why he waited until the last moment, to gather as much water as he could from the atmosphere, before firing off the Ryūsenka. In Bankai, he could have used it instantaneously, but using such a technique in Shikai meant needing time to prepare for every technique. Cang Du did not grant him much time, but it was enough to at least perform a considerable Ryūsenka. Once more, he let the reishi beneath his feet loosen, so that he'd descend naturally further down toward the sands of Hueco Mundo. As he did, he kept his eyes upwards toward how the Quincy would respond to the Ryūsenka counterattack. Simultaneously, however, he began gathering water once more for another attack. However, a sudden singe of discomfort struck him, almost as if it were some painful realization. "Damn it... As I thought. Hueco Mundo has barely any water, even in its atmosphere. After those last two attacks, it won't be as easy to produce more ice. I won't be able to fight as effectively here in Hueco Mundo." Despite his thoughts, he managed to gather enough water to at least ready another attack. " !" However Cang Du managed to deal with the Ryūsenka, Hitsugaya fired off a volley of ice to follow the initial strike. They moved at a remarkable speed with potent piercing potential, aimed at shredding through the Quincy. Soon after, the Captain touched ground, taking a stance with the sword at his side; awaiting the Quincy's next move. Inevitable Force The ice was beautiful. Crystals stacking upon crystals, the Ryūsenka bloomed like a flower. As the brittle structure formed, tiny pieces of ice shattered outwards like snow, no doubt fragmenting against the brutally parched air of Hueco Mundo. The only reason Cang Du could see such detail within Hitsugaya’s attack was due to the sudden energy pouring through his veins, causing his pitch-black irises to glow with a brief, sinister light, heightening his senses. As the remains of the Sajō Sabaku disintegrated and fell slowly around him, he slid to a stop in midair to meet the incoming attack. He extended his hand, and this time the matrix of his Blut Vene darkened before coalescing into an unbroken layer of steel-gray across his skin. Time resumed its course abruptly as the massive ice dagger slammed into Cang’s palm. But instead of enveloping him, it spiraled out in front of him from the concussive force of his resistance. The ice flattened like a shield, and Hitsugaya would see that part of it glinted against he dark sky. It was almost as if Cang’s ability had externalized, spreading like patterns of Blut Vene to redirect the energy of the Ryūsenka. The soul-steel imbued within the ice hardened it, stilled it. And when iron met ice both became brittle. At last, as if he could no longer hold back the force of the massive tide, Cang delivered a swift one-inch punch with his outstretched hand. The Ryūsenka fractured, shearing off along the lines of steel into great plates of ice that groaned against each other. They collapsed slowly towards the earth... The Guncho Tsurara nearly caught Cang Du by surprise. The bullets of ice shot up from the ground without warning, but Cang matched their speed. He threw his hands out to the side, and wings of Heilig Pfeil shimmered into existence on each side of him. He released the reishi arrows, and they disintegrated the ice bullets before they could reach him. However, having been formed at the last minute, the Hè Yōuyǎ Zhǎo was unable to drown out all of the Guncho Tsurara. Some slipped past, and they glanced across Cang’s skin, bouncing off harmlessly due to his Blut Vene. In fact, the rain of Hè Yōuyǎ Zhǎo hadn’t been defensive at all. Cang had made his stance seem reactive, but in reality the maneuver had been one of offense, relying on the strength of his Blut to counter the force of the Guncho Tsurara. Toshirou Hitsugaya would soon find himself beneath a volley of feather-like projectiles, which glittered deceptively as they pelted down with incredible speed and force. It was Cang Du’s response to the Licht Regen, and just as deadly for its properties of tearing matter from matter. He narrowed his focus on the captain below him, who would find that each Heilig Pfeil carried with it a needle of killing intent. Hitsugaya's eyes widened, almost as an instinctive response, his stance shifted and he assumed a defensive pose. As the powerful projectiles of light came barreling forth, the Captain began a series of fast and focused slashes in the space around him. , to cut several times in a single breath. It was a technique he observed one of the Visoreds using back during the battle with Aizen. Ever since he had lost his Bankai the first time around, he did all he could to sharpen his swordsmanship, including the adoption of tactics and techniques he observed from others. However, he was far from having mastered it. Even as he managed to cut down the bulk of Cang Du's attacks, more than a couple managed to break through his sphere of influence; evident by the cuts along Hitsugaya's shoulders and hips. They were deep enough to draw blood yet hardly life-threatening. Though he could not slash them all down, he did manage well enough to avoid any fatal injuries. "This isn't enough... I'm just fighting a defensive battle here. With such finite resources, resources shared with the Quincy, Hyōrinmaru's powers can't hope to beat him in a place like this." the Captain pondered, feeling muddled as his arms tensed with rigidity and doubt. "Calm down, Tōshirō." Hitsugaya demanded of himself. "What did you do all that training for, anyways? To protect Momo. To never lose again. Not to anyone. It's time to show it, all of it. The meaning of that effort." Taking a deep breath, Hitsugaya widened his stance. Holding his sword out in front of him, the flat side facing toward Cang Du, the Captain called out a single command. " ." Suddenly, a burst of ice and water flooded the air around Hitsugaya, surrounding his body and filling the space like a dam that had burst. Hyōga Seiran was a Kidō spell which created a rushing flood of ice to ensnare its victim. The Hyōrinmaru was a Zanpakutō that drew its power from ambient water, which is why powers which produced immense heat, such as , were able to neutralize its own powers. When Hitsugaya lost his Bankai, he realized what he had fundamentally lost was the ability to produce a great deal of ice from the ambient water, which was the main difference between his Shikai and Bankai. Therefore, to bridge the gap, he decided to make use of Kidō, which utilized internal to create fantastical effects. He could create his own water and ice with which to control via Hyōrinmaru, so as to bypass any obstacles in using ambient water as an energy source for his Zanpakutō's powers. The downside to this strategy was that internal reiryoku was exhaustible. Powerful as it allowed Hyōrinmaru to be, even in a desert like Hueco Mundo with minimal ambient water, it meant there was a limit to how much ice and water Hitsugaya could produce via this method. He knew that if he was going to use this strategy to bring Cang Du down, it meant using as few techniques as possible. Therefore, he had to bring out the strongest techniques he could dish out in order to minimize the expenditure. He could not afford to fight a war of attrition. "Guncho Tsurara." With the tremendous wave of ice produced by the spell, Hitsugaya molded the massive current into large daggers of ice, sending them spiraling for the Quincy at high speeds. However, it was not the Captain's intention for them to land, even if the Quincy managed to destroy them. Many of them went for Cang Du while the others intentionally passed by the Quincy. Among the ice daggers which went for Cang Du, whether he dodged or destroyed them, the ice immediately broke form and swirled around like a tornado around the general vicinity where the Quincy was. The ice reformed into several pillars. "Sennen Hyōrō." But that wasn't the end. This technique was aimed to imprison the Quincy, but in truth, it was also a distraction. The ice which passed by the Quincy before flew overhead and also started to reshape itself. "And... Hyōryū Senbi, Zekku!" The ice pillars surrounded Cang Du on all sides, moving in closer and closer to crush him. Simultaneously, Hitsugaya had the Hyōryū Senbi soar above the Quincy, as if it were an eagle awaiting its chance to snatch its prey. Depending on how the Quincy responded to the ice pillars, the Hyōryū Senbi was aimed to crash down from above, with the intention of slashing him down violently. ---- As the captain called out the name of the Kidou, Cang Du’s expression had almost reflected a hint of interest, which for him meant that the Shinigami had his full attention. In his resourcefulness, Hitsugaya had seemingly forgotten one crucial detail: the opponent he was fighting was a Quincy. Whatever the means of its formation, the Kidō spell was nothing more to Cang Du than a massive outpouring of spirit energy. And for a Quincy at his level there was no difference between reishi and reiryoku—both were merely fuel for him to utilize in his own attacks. However, Hitsugaya left him no space to capitalize on the Hyōga Seiren, as he immediately executed his next attack. Narrowing his stance, Cang kept his arms close to his body, waiting until the bullets of ice neared him to strike back. He used both his palms and the soles of his feet to redirect the Guncho Tsurara with Wing Chun-inspired movements, and each snapping kick or circular thrust served to create a space around him that the attacks could not penetrate. But then the ice reformed into pillars behind him, and he realized he should have destroyed them altogether. The brief interest Cang had shown vanished, and his eyes narrowed as he considered the seriousness of the rapidly closing ice prison around him. The pillars slammed shut, forming a gapless cylinder of ice that expanded across sky. The Sennen Hyōrō had seemingly been effective in closing in on its target. But if Hitsugaya were to look closely, he would see the white silhouette buried within the frozen wall was nothing more than a slip of fabric—Cang Du’s reiatsu-concealing cloak. At the last instant, and relying on the swirling storm of ice daggers for cover, the Quincy had discarded it, shedding his cloak like a shell as he slid along invisible lines of reishi using Hirenkyaku. It was a technique apparently adapted from the Shinigami’s own . Was Cang Du mocking him? The Quincy reemerged in mid-air to meet the incoming dragon. He extended his hand once more, but this time, instead of redirecting the force of the attack, he cannibalized it. Without the inhibition of the cloak, Cang was able to absorb the spirit energy of the Hyōryū Senbi freely. The ice at the head of the attack became an influent current of energy beneath his touch, dispersing into glowing fragments before being consumed entirely. And at last, in the wake of all of Hitsugaya’s attacks, there was stillness. Cang Du stared down at his opponent, and the battle ground to a halt. “Did you forget?” he asked. “I too once held the powers of the Hyouinmaru. Your weakness is evident. You can’t draw in ambient moisture from the air, so you thought you could compensate by using a water spell.” He remained expressionless as he continued his monologue. “Perhaps you thought I wouldn’t be able to absorb the spirit energy of your attack. But allow me to show you that—” he placed his wrists together so that one hand was stacked on top of the other. Pointing the claws of his spirit weapon down at the captain, the atmosphere itself became flooded with invisible spiritual pressure. Hitsugaya might have noticed that the reiatsu was concentrated on five points around him: the great shards of ice and steel that had been shorn off from the Ryūsenka earlier. They protruded from the sand like giant sentinels, hedging him in on all sides. At the same time, a bright orb of spirit energy had formed in front of Cang’s claws. It spun in midair, gathering power and momentum. “You can’t hope to defeat me without the power of your bankai.” As though a star had liquified, the blue orb shot out in a single stream. It instantly connected with one of the shards, which served like a lightning rod to conduct its power. The single point of light erupted in a blue tower, purifying everything within the bounds of the five markers. The Sprenger-like spell roared with the force of a heavenly dragon, drowning out all other sound for miles around. Cang slid into view on a dune a short distance away from the explosion, apparently unperturbed by the shaking of the ground beneath him. “My apologies,” he said. “For not making it the floral cross of your Zanpakutō. My emblem is a pentagram.” "No...!" Hitsugaya tried his best, wordlessly casting another Hyōga Seiran in order to produce enough ice and water to, at the very least, shield him from the brunt of this attack. But even with a full incantation, it would not provide enough substance to help him in this sudden predicament. No, there was only solution left to him, one that his very enemy stated himself. The Captain was no fool. He knew now the same as he did then; he was not strong enough to fight a Quincy of this level without Bankai. No matter how many tricks he learned, no matter how many skills he had polished, an ant simply could not fight off an elephant. But there was a reason why he hesitated in doing so. Besides desiring to attain the power necessary to fight without relying on Bankai, he also knew using Bankai carelessly in front of a Quincy could mean it might be stolen; just as it was back then, by the same Quincy no less. Therefore, Hitsugaya arrived at a single answer. It was something that he considered to be a potential strategy in using Bankai against an opponent who could steal it. But it would require an immense amount of training. So much so that, even after all his continued efforts after the Quincy war, he still was not at the level where he could perform this tactic efficiently. But there was no option now. If he was going to survive this, with his Bankai intact, he would have to try. "Ban... kai!" The form of Tōshirō Hitsugaya was entirely consumed by the Sprenger-like attack which enveloped the area, with the Shinigami presumed to have been obliterated, before a shockwave of force erupted from within its epicenter. A chilling wave of cold seemingly overtook the Quincy's energy attack, freezing it up until the entirety of the reiryoku was truly solid ice. Before assuming this rigid form, it started to crackle and shattered apart, smaller and smaller fragments of frozen energy shattering apart before Hitsugaya's form was finally visible again. Truly, he had used Bankai, as his opponent egged him on. It was, after all, the only way he was going to survive that attack. But something was strange; it probably would not have been obvious to anybody else, but since Cang Du personally held Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, it was likely plain for him to see. Hitsugaya was not using his Bankai. The wings of the ice dragon which accompanied the Bankai were not visible, and the massive reiatsu spike that was typical of the Zanpakutō second release was no longer present. This was the conclusion Hitsugaya arrived at, and one could say was one of the primary reasons for why he so feverishly continued his physical training after the end of the Quincy war. The ability to use Bankai and then reseal it, all within a single moment, within so short a time that the Quincy medallion which was used to steal Bankai could not be used quickly enough to do so. After all, that medallion, at least according to the research done by Kisuke Urahara, could only steal active Bankai. If the Bankai is never used, it could not be stolen, and resealing the Bankai before it could be stolen was the same as never using it in the first place. Hitsugaya reasoned that if he could release his Bankai in order to amass a tremendous amount of power and then resealed it within the same instant, he could unleash minute bursts of his Bankai's power rather than a continuous stream of its tremendous might. The very idea of it was absurd. But Hitsugaya was desperate. After losing his Bankai, and then regaining it by a miracle outside of his control, he feared the idea of this tragedy ever happening again. He pondered if there was a way to avoid such an occurrence again, but no answer existed beyond a very simple one: would it be possible to use Bankai in such a way as to avoid the Quincy being able to steal it? It was not a complex answer, nor one that could be called efficient, but it was the only thing someone like Hitsugaya could figure out. Of course, this was no simple feat. Bankai placed a significant strain on a user. Many who mastered it often did not feel the strain, but that was only because Bankai was meant to be used as a trump card; used once and then resealed once the battle was over. It was unheard of to use Bankai so recklessly over and over again like this. And so, because of that, Hitsugaya knew this tactic would be infeasible to employ too many times. Even doing it once as he did now induced an irritating pressure onto his body which even his swordsmanship training could not shrug off. The very instant Hitsugaya regained his breath, he aimed his sword for the Quincy. He did not have the stamina to waste any more time. In order to make this work for him, he was going to have to catch the Quincy off-guard. "Hyōryū Senbi!" A sudden eruption of ice flew from the edge of his sword, slicing through the air toward Cang Du before Hitsugaya then adjusted his stance. "Guncho Tsurara!" He knew that his opponent could reverse the flow of his reiryoku by taking control of it, and so, if he was going to land a hit before the Quincy could manage any of that, he would need to control the tempo of his own attacks. The moment Hyōryū Senbi got close enough, it shattered apart and instead reformed into Guncho Tsurara, hurtling toward Cang Du at a greater velocity and in greater numbers too. ---- Earlier, Cang Du had shown interest in the captain’s unique use of the Hyouga Seiren to power his attacks. But that interest had turned to disinterest when the limitations of the Kidou had been revealed. Now, facing yet another volley of Guncho Tsurara, his face showed that he was completely unamused. The same attack as before? How unoriginal. Cang rapidly crossed and uncrossed his arms in front of his chest, releasing six ribbons of highly concentrated, vibrating reishi. Similar to the blade’s edge of a Seele Schneider, the attack itself resembled the Desgarrón of a particular . As the Hyouruu Senbi split into uncountable shards of ice, the tiger-cutting claws formed a cage in front of Cang that slit across them, disintegrating the ice before it could reach him. Cang looked across the distance, narrowing his focus on the bleached white haori of the captain. Just as he had intended, Hitsugaya had finally been cornered into using his bankai. But he had resorted to a cheap trick in order to create a massive amount of ice without risking long-term use of his Zanpakutou release. “I wonder,” Cang said as he closed the gap between them, coming into earshot of the Shinigami with hirenkyaku. “If you’ve considered the repercussions of releasing and resealing your bankai in such a short amount of time,” he said, and his steely tone of voice hid his agitation. “All that excess reiatsu has to go somewhere—Your body won't be able to withstand it without breaking down.” He was not aware of Hitusgaya’s “evolved” or mature form, which caused him to seem older than he was an was a direct result of the very phenomena Cang had described—of the influx of reiatsu of Hitsugaya’s Zanpakutou being too much for the young body of the captain to contain without serious harm. He looked up at the tower of ice that had been formed in the wake of Hitsugaya’s sudden release of bankai, watching as it slowly shattered into a glittering cloud of dust: his most immediate problem. But then he met Hitsugaya’s gaze evenly. “You’ve changed your style of fighting,” he stated, recalling how easily Hitsugaya had relied on his bankai in the past. “But it’s unfitting for a god of death to fear his own demise.” With that, Cang Du’s skin turned completely ash gray. A sudden weight slammed into the sand, and a cloud of dust accompanied the shockwave that rippled towards Hitsugaya, but Cang himself remained motionless. In the next instant, his form was enveloped entirely in a pillar of blue fire. With a roar, the Heilig Feuer shot up through the sky, expanding rapidly as it ignited the very sand of Hueco Mundo beneath it. The heat dissipated the remains of Hitsugaya’s bankai, sucking the particles of ice from the air. The all-consuming, purifying fire fed the Quincy’s own abilities, and Cang leveled his spirit weapon at the shinigami in front of him. “''Shé Jìn Zhǎo''.” Once again, massive claws of spirit energy, this time formed of the Heilig Feuer itself, shot out towards Hitsugaya. They split open like a jaw to encircle him entirely, forming instant walls of flame on each side of Hitsugaya. Then, they snapped shut to swallow him him whole.